From October 2-11, the Warriors will hold training camp at their practice facility in Downtown Oakland. Each day, warriors.com will give you a behind-the-scenes look at the team and coaching staff as they practice and prepare for the upcoming season.
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Tim Roye's Journal

October 2, 2006

Davis showed up to camp in impressive shape and proved it to his teammates during sprints.
The Warriors hosted their annual Media Day on Monday at the team's downtown Oakland practice facility. And, if the first day of school revealed anything, it's that guard Baron Davis spent a good portion of his summer vacation in the gym or on a track in Los Angeles or Las Vegas, his two primary off-season residences. Davis, who was sidelined the last 19 games of last season due to a sprained right ankle, registered the best time of any Golden State player when Director of Athletic Development Mark Grabow put the entire team through a grueling session of wind sprints at the conclusion of Media Day. The 15 healthy players who took part in the test were required to run - sprint - four sets of 10 from baseline to baseline. Davis had the lowest average time of the 15 players and looked like he was ready and eager for the start of training camp, which begins tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. One Northern California writer, who has covered Davis dating back to his UCLA days, indicated that he thought Davis looked in better shape then at any point in his college or NBA career.
Prior to Media Day, Head Coach Don Nelson addressed the team for the initial time as a group. The 45-minute meeting set the tone for the season and focused on several elements, including team rules, what the coaching staff expected of the players, his vision for the team and other related subjects. Nelson had spoken to many of the players individually prior to Media Day and utilized the latter stages of the afternoon for one-on-one meetings in his office with two players whom he had yet to address - Davis and Monta Ellis.

During the team meeting, Nelson, the second-winningest coach in NBA history, also informed the players of who would serve as the team's captains this season. Jason Richardson, Baron Davis and Mike Dunleavy were hand-picked by the coach to fill the role as tri-captains during the 2006-07 season.

Andris Biedrins tried his hand at photography at one point during Media Day.

Media Day, which is held each season on the day prior to the start of training camp, was attended by roughly 80 members of the media and other invited guests, including a few Season Ticket Holders who were fortunate enough to win an opportunity to attend the "Ultimate Media Day Experience." Each of the 19 players on the Warriors' preseason roster were in uniform and escorted through a "media circuit" which included photos, TV promotions, radio reads, entertainment skits and interviews. During one specific photo shoot, Davis and Richardson sported Golden State's Hardwood Classic jerseys, which the team will wear on occasion (8-10 times) this season following a one-year absence (Gold jerseys). And, of course, there were the standard humorous aspects to Media Day as well, including center Andris Biedrins playing professional photographer as he zoomed in on teammate Zarko Cabarkapa and forward Chris Taft revealing his, ah, questionable singing skills during one specific interview. The only missing element from Media Day was Lucky, Coach Nelson's beloved dog who has become a fixture around the team's practice facility. Lucky, it seems, had other obligations and was not available for comment or photos.

Earlier in the day, the Warriors announced that they had signed three free agents (training camp invitees), Matt Barnes, Dijon Thompson and Anthony Roberson. The trio of players were members of various NBA teams last season in Philadelphia (Barnes), Phoenix (Thompson) and Memphis (Roberson).

"Losing is inevitably close to winning," Guber said. "They're inches apart. Drama. If you have drama, you've got a ticket to sell." "They're not real fans," Lacob said. "They don't have season tickets."